By Will Vandervort.

With the score tied and the clock running down to end the third quarter, Clemson found itself sitting at the Florida State one-foot line.

Chad Morris then decides to do what he always does, run his offense the way he sees fit. On first down, quarterback Deshaun Watson takes a shotgun snap from center and hands it off to running back C.J. Davidson, who was stopped for no gain.

On second down, he does again but Florida State defensive Eddie Goldman was offside, basically running over center Ryan Norton before he could snap the ball. After a half-the-distance to the goal line penalty, the Tigers again lined up in the same formation and while Norton was worrying about Goldman, he took his concentration off the snap, sailing the ball way over the head of the 6-foot-3 Watson. The ball landed 23 yards down field, where Watson was able to jump on it at the FSU 24.

Two plays later, kicker Ammon Lakip was wide right on a 40-yard field goal – it turned out to be a mistake that ultimately cost the Tigers the ball game.

In the postgame press conference, Morris was asked why Watson was not under center for that play and the Tigers’ offensive coordinator said at the time the freshman was not comfortable under center.

As it turns out, neither was Morris.

During practice last Thursday, Watson struggled with the center-quarterback exchange during goal line plays. As he was calling plays last Saturday night in Tallahassee those experiences came into Morris’ mind.

“This is what I do know as a coach and as a coordinator,” Morris said Monday. “I know what his deficiencies are. He did not play under center in high school very often, if any. I do know in short yardage situations, and I’m sure he would tell you the same thing, as of last Thursday we fumbled snaps coming out under center in short-yardage situations in a practice setting.

“So that has been a deficiency for him and that is something we have to work on. Quarterback sneak is in our game plan. We have a quarterback sneak in our system.”

The Tigers, who will host North Carolina on Saturday, ran the quarterback sneak twice against Georgia in the season opener, but Cole Stoudt ran the sneaks – one that picked up a first down on fourth-and-short and another one near the goal line, which went for no gain.

That is definitely something we have to get better at with (Watson),” Morris said. “Had it been Cole, would it have been a different situation right there? I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

There is a reason why Watson does not like being under center as opposed to the shotgun – it’s not as easy as it looks.

“It is hard to explain to be honest,” the freshman said. “In the shotgun you’re five yards from the defensive linemen, but under center you are right there so they are coming right at you. Then you have to get the ball and then the center is moving fast and there are guys pushing him.

“It is different, but it is nothing I can’t handle. I have done it before and it is something I have to do so I can gain trust from the coaches.”

Watson did it overtime on the fourth-and-one play when Adam Choice was stuffed for no gain, turning the ball back over to the Seminoles who scored two plays later to win the game.

“It was a coaching decision. I chose not to go under center,” Morris said “Four plays later, we get the ball inside the two-yard line and we snap it out of the shotgun and we go score.

“Had the ball not sailed over his head we would not be answering this questions right now. If you would have told me the ball is going to sail over his head I would say, ‘Hey, let’s get underneath center.’ But I don’t think anybody knows that. But I do know this. We have scored a lot of points since I have been here and we have snapped a lot of balls inside the five-yard line. That’s not going to change. We are going to be who we are. We do have to get better in some of those regards, especially in those short yardage situations.

“Middle of the field stuff, that is a whole different ball game, but when you are solid across the front (of the goal line), that is something (Watson) has to get better at.”

Morris isn’t the only coach that puts the quarterback in the shotgun near the goal line. It’s a common occurrence everywhere, from high school to college to the NFL.

“You do what you do. That is the biggest thing,” Morris said. “I talked to Coach (Gus) Malzahn. Auburn led the country in rushing. They did not snap the ball under center. You do what you do. Again, if we all knew what the outcome would be, we would all do something different. It is always easier to second guess.

“I’m sure Ryan Norton wishes he could get that snap back.”

And so does all of Clemson.